


Unity!

by tatersalad5001



Series: Miracle Synchro Fusion [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Background Relationships, Card Games, Gen, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-04-28 12:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14449350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Change can definitely be a good thing, and in this case, it was a good change. But...change had certain prerequisites that made change hard. Jesse finds himself having to have a difficult conversation with his boss. Takes place at any point between chapters 1 and 8 of RftDD.





	Unity!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm taking the plunge and making Return from the Different Dimension into a series, and involve other Yugioh series as well! Return from the Different Dimension will remain a GX/5DS crossover, primarily featuring Leo and Luna as well as misadventures at the shared apartment of Chazz, Jesse, and Jaden. I've had this particular crossover planned out from the beginning in this universe but was unsure whether to include it, and I'm doing this now because I feel it might end up necessary very immediately in RftDD, but I'm in too deep in crossover ideas not to write this out and put this in at this point. This series will include crossovers with other other Yugioh series, with other characters...and all that. For example, I'm planning to include Vrains as well! The original Yugioh series fits a little strangely in this universe, in that...this universe is post-GX, but kind of supposed-to-be during DM, but aspects of it are strongly based on like, season zero/early manga DM. It's a weird one, I haven't figured out the exact dynamic with DM in this universe yet, but I'm sure this won't be DM's last appearance. If you're not here from Return from the Different Dimension, at least the first chapter of that story should give more context, but hopefully this also works standing alone somewhat. Thanks for reading!

Jesse ran a hand through the back of his hair. It was getting a little long; he could feel that he really needed a haircut soon.

No, he definitely wasn't deflecting. He definitely wasn't stalling. It was just, well, okay. Maybe he was stalling a  _little_. He just...really didn't want to do this. He didn't want to walk across the street, he didn't want to walk inside the store over there, and he definitely didn't want to have the conversation he needed to have. It'd be so much easier to sit down where he was and try his best to become, like, a statue or something.

Change is good, change can definitely be a good thing, and in this case, it was a good change. But...change had certain prerequisites that made change hard. In this case, the prerequisite was that Jesse needed to talk to his boss. His current boss, anyway, since he was gearing himself up to give his two weeks notice and quit his job. It wasn't that he didn't like his job, Jesse loved his current job. He loved the game shop, he loved being surrounded by cards and duel spirits without the pressure of having to duel. He loved seeing the other games the shop had to offer, expanding his horizons. He loved interacting with the customers, perhaps directing those interested in booster packs towards duel spirits that make a good match for them once in awhile. Just talking to the customers was great, too, hearing their stories and hopefully making their day a little brighter. He enjoyed the workplace, he liked everyone he worked with, the job itself wasn't the problem. It was just...time to change.

When Jesse first took this job, he'd been stuck in a rut. He hadn't known what to do with his future, and he needed a break from dueling. Now, he felt ready to finally reenter the dueling scene, and after listening to Chazz's advice, he was going to take a shot at joining the pro leagues. He had the potential to do well at it, after all, since he'd already made quite a name for himself before he'd even graduated from school. Finally, the future felt like it was clearing up, and Jesse was starting to see his own path again.

Problem was, he had a feeling that joining the pro leagues would make it hard to keep up with his current job. His schedule would get a lot more crazy, he'd have a lot less free time and everything was going to get a lot less predictable. It'd be easier for the game shop to not have to try and deal with all that. So, Jesse figured, it was definitely a good idea to explain the whole situation, and probably best to quit this job now before things became difficult.

Which brought the other problem. Jesse did like his job, and had no desire to have this conversation. 

It needed to be done, anyway. He just...really didn't want to do this. But that didn't matter right now. With a sigh, Jesse walked across the street, sticking to the crosswalk. He took the sidewalk to the store on the other side, a small little place sitting close to the road. Refusing to have any second thoughts about this now, Jesse opened the door and walked inside.

His boss, Mr. Muto, appeared to be running the shop at the moment. Mr. Muto used to be the only person working at his store, and used to run it, manage it, and provide customer service all by himself. However, it was clear that the man's age was catching up with him. At least, his grandson insisted that he didn't have to work alone. His grandson, Yugi Muto, started working at the store himself a couple of years ago, and someday planned to be the store's next owner. Yugi was short for his age (he was still in high school), but he was a good kid. He'd recently entered one of the later years of high school (third? fourth? Jesse could never remember), and his schoolwork was really beginning to pile up. That's where Jesse came in. He made sure that Mr. Muto didn't have to do all the work himself when Yugi was at school or had too much homework to help out. Mr. Muto still did a fair bit at the shop himself, but both the Mutos were grateful to have Jesse around to help.

Jesse'd had fairly flexible availability to work at the store thus far. It was, at the moment, the only real obligation he had. The store deserved to have someone with an open schedule like that.

Mr. Muto was stocking a shelf with a new game that had just come in, but he turned around when he heard the door open. "Ah, Jesse! I forgot your shift was coming soon."

Jesse shook his head and offered him a sheepish grin. "You didn't forget. I'm not on the schedule for today, sir. I ain't here to work." He quickly scanned the store area; it didn't look like there were any customers in at the moment, even though the store was still open. "Actually, sir, I wanted to talk to you, if that's alright."

"Of course, of course!" Mr. Muto assured him. He went back to stocking the new game; he was nearly finished. "You don't have to be so nervous. And there's no need for any of this 'sir' business, you can call me Solomon, you know."

Jesse chuckled. "I know, I know." He certainly did; this was probably the third time this month Solomon had reminded him, and he still kept forgetting. "It's, uh, it's about my schedule, you see."

"Ah." Solomon reached down and straightened up a stack of board games, probably knocked off-kilter by a younger customer. "Did I schedule you to work too much? Do you need more time off, less hours? Or...maybe I'm not scheduling you to work enough, and you need more hours..."

"Nothin' like that, s-Solomon." Jesse waved his hands in front of him. "I haven't needed a change in hours. But my schedule's about to change."

”Is it, now?” Solomon asked. “What’s come up?”

”Well, uh, you see...I guess I’m tryin’ to... Oh, dang it,” Jesse mumbled under his breath. “I’m trying to become a pro duelist, sir.”

”Hmm...” Solomon frowned, shifting a pile over to make room. “Didn’t you say before that that’s what you were working for, before you graduated?”

”Probably,” Jesse answered. Without thinking, he reached down and handed Solomon half of the pile he was currently adding to the shelf. “It’s one of the things I wanted to be, and I still do. But school got a little...nuts. I needed a break.”

”Yugi’s friend Joey wants to be a pro duelist, after he graduates, too,” Solomon recalled. “And you’d think Yugi would, too, being the King of Games and all, but the doesn’t seem to be the case.” He hummed quietly, looking down at everything currently stocked in this part of the shop. He gathered up the small pile of an old, unpopular game; perhaps it needed a break from the public eye. “Isn’t your boyfriend a pro duelist, too?”

”He sure is!” Jesse confirmed. “He’s the one that convinced me to give it a shot now, too. Hopefully it works out, I think he’s a lot more sure about this than I am.”

”I’m sure you’ll do just fine. If you believe in the heart of your cards, you can do anything together!” Solomon tucked the games into an area in the back of the store. They could go into a better storage spot later. “It’ll keep you pretty busy, though.”

”Yeah... That’s the thing,” Jesse said. He sighed. “I don’t know how much you’ll want someone with such a crazy schedule working here.”

Solomon paused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, uh, you hired me here to help pick up the hours y'all couldn't, right? Since Yugi's busy with school and you shouldn't be working too much." Jesse scratched an itch at the back of his neck. "It worked out really well since I wasn't doin' anything else. But I don't know if I'll be able to do that while I'm working the pro duelist gig, too. It might get a little confusing 'n chaotic; somtimes Chazz doesn't get much notice before his duels. It might be easier if instead you hire someone more...flexible? Available?"

Solomon crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Are you saying you don't want to work here anymore?" he asked.

"Oh, no, it's not that," Jesse answered quickly. "I like working here a lot, I swear! It's just, well, I guess it's one of those 'it's not you it's me' situations?"

"Well, then I don't see any problem, here."

"Huh?"

Solomon smiled. "We can work around schedules, don't worry about that. The two of us have been working around Yugi's schedule for awhile now. And I'm certainly free most of the time. I can fill in the gaps."

"Are you sure?" Jesse asked.

"If you want to keep working here, then don't worry." A voice piped up from the corner. Jesse glanced over; he hadn't noticed Yugi sitting there before, working on homework. "Even if our schedules overlap a little, it's not like you'll be dueling every single day, right? And if we're both busy at the same time, Gramps should be available." Yugi offered him a smile. "Scheduling's barely an issue. As it is, we'd much rather do that than try to find someone new. It'd be really hard to replace you."

"I'm not so sure about that," Jesse said with a laugh. "I don't really bring that much to the table that someone else couldn't do."

"I wouldn't say that," Solomon argued. "All of our customers like you quite a bit. They're very happy with you. And let me tell you, that's not an easy thing to accomplish. Especially customers that come here to buy Duel Monsters cards-- they might not be the most powerful cards, but they often feel like they've found exactly what they needed. You can sense the heart of the cards, you have a gift. I think dueling's the right thing for you to be doing. But if you're willing to stay here, I think it'd be almost impossible to replace you."

"You think so?" Jesse rubbed at one of his arms. "Shoot, I thought it'd be easier the other way around. But if that's what you think, I'd be more than happy to keep working here. I'm sure I can handle it."


End file.
